tomato sauce or marinara recipe for canning/freezing

29Aug

The tomatoes are starting to really come in – but not enough to do some big batch of canning. Instead I think I will make a batch or 2 of tomato sauce or marinara. If you make tomato sauce I’d recommend using the smaller, 1 cup size jars (8oz), as you will likely use this size most often for recipes (or even less – then you can save to use later in the week). For marinara I recommend using quart size jars as they will cover a pound of pasta.

For a basic sauce: Tools: Blender, Food mill/sieve, big stock pot.

Put tomatoes into blender (I have one of those vita mixes) and blend into juice. Pour into food mill to strain out seeds/skin then pour juice into pot. I pour about 4 blenders full of juice into a basic stock pot and boil down to my prefered thickness for sauce. I don’t add anything else. I then put into jars and can – you can use either waterbath or pressure can for tomatoes. Waterbath about 45mins-60min – Pressure Can 20-25 mins @11lbs.

For Marinara, use steps above, but add in desired amount of sautéed onion(sautéed in olive oil), crushed/minced/chopped garlic, chopped flat leaf parsley, and basil, throw in a couple of teaspoons of italian seasoning. You could even put in wine if you want. Again, boil down to desire consistency and process in quart size containers is water bath for 60-70 mins or pressure can 25 mins @11lbs.

Super easy! Really. And if you are not comfortable (or have not yet graduated to canning) you can easily fill jars/plastic bags/or other containers and freeze. NOTE: if freezing, remember to leave enough head space for expansion. Jars can and will break as they do not have much give to them.